1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to an apparatus and method for handling lazy-portrait printed documents (printing across the continuous paper web to produce paired portrait orientated pages or in “lazy-portrait narrow-end to narrow-end” formatting (LPEE)) so as to generate acceptably oriented pages that are then processed and grouped into pre-designated document sets with continuously numbered pages. More particularly, to a hinged divided or bifurcated transfer cart that permits a desired reorientation of a portion of the lazy-portrait printed documents to facilitate further processing in a correctly ordered page-sequence for document sets, wherein when LPEE head-to-head or bottom-to-bottom paired pages are printed, one half of the printed pairs must be flipped for generation of a sequential page count in each final assembled document set.
2. Description of Related Art
To fully understand the subject invention, it is deemed worthwhile to stress the difference between existing/traditional “two-up portrait” versus the current and novel subject “lazy-portrait” printing styles and the documents produced by each type of printing scheme. Existing high-speed duplex variable data printing is carried out most frequently with continuous form printers using what is termed a “two-up portrait” format on a continuous web of paper. Two portrait printed sheets are printed side-by-side (both oriented in the same exact direction. This process, the standard in the industry, produces a continuous output of pages where, for example, the first four sheets (eight pages, front and back on four, eventually separate, sheets) appear as shown in FIG. 1. Currently, an advantage of printing in the prior art format is that it is compatible with more existing printers and more existing post-printing equipment for handling the printed sheets. A critical element of the prior art printing method is that to print either black or color markings on both pages, with the headings in color and the body in black, both the black and color-capable printing heads must span the entire width (long-side to long-side of a page) of both the duplexed sheets, WB and WC, respectively (see FIG. 1). FIG. 2 depicts a pair of traditionally formatted pages that are then separated/cut-apart and simply stacked on top of one another, as shown in FIG. 3, to produce a correctly page-sequences document set. Examples of printers that function in this manner are the IBM InfoPrint 4000 and Oce VarioStream 7000. In a typical prior art printing system a continuous stream of traditionally printed sheets (such as the ones shown in FIG. 1 and/or FIG. 2) is printed and then moves into a slitter that separates the single steam into two streams of continuous sheets that then enter a cutter and collator for further processing to generate correctly page-sequenced document sets (as illustrated in FIG. 3 for two cut sheets).
For the current subject invention, paper is printed in a lazy-portrait narrow-end to narrow-end (LPEE) format (as seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, for four pages and two pages, respectively), which is a means for more efficient and cost effective printing of variable and form data onto paper oriented in a lazy-portrait orientation. The term “lazy-portrait” (also known in the industry as “rotated landscape” when a printer merely uses a traditional printer head alignment spanning the entire page to print a rotated image) is defined as a portrait oriented page that is generated by printing the page from one wide edge to the other wide edge (side to side) and not from narrow edge or end to narrow edge or end (top to bottom or visa-versa), as is done in every other currently existing printing system.
The critically issue with the subject invention is that when a pair of head-to-head or bottom-to-bottom pages are printed on a continuous stream of paper, the single stream of paper with the paired images must then be separated/slitted into two separate streams of paper with one stream being flipped over to correctly orient the final pages when cut and stacked into a document set (as seen in FIG. 6 for a pair of LPEE printed sheets). The current subject invention presents a system and method for accomplishing this sheet flipping process by flipping one entire stream of post-slitted sheets via utilization of a hinged and bifurcated LPEE document transfer cart.
Again, it is noted that conventional paper transport cart systems and paper handling systems exist that can transport and process paper printed in the existing and traditional two-up portrait style (not the subject paper LPEE orientation). Future document sets have pages that are already aligned head to head, and existing finishing, cutting, and inserting equipment readily handles the orientation of the two-up portrait printed paper by slitting the two-up portrait web of paper in either first to last (1 to N) or last to first (N to 1) document page-sequencing.
Since the two-up portrait printed paper is printed narrow-end to narrow-end, there is a need to rotate/flip the stack of finished paper pages so that the document heads from both stacks (the slit stacks) of documents need to be ultimately presented and accumulated together to form a finished document set.
Various turn-bars are found on cutters for folded continuous form stacks or continuous form rolls, but the entire stream of paper is always reoriented by use of such turn-bars, completely unacceptable for the subject system/method in which only one half of the initial paper stream is required to be flipped. Prior inserters handle stacks of paper that are in printed two-up portrait format with either the head of the document or the bottom of the document printed first, in either first to last sequence order, or last to first sequence order.
An example of a currently manufactured cart for handling two up portrait paper is manufactured by Beste Bunch Co., Inc. This cart (very much a traditional dolly for moving heavy items from one location to another) is designed to receive paper coming out of a folder attached to a continuous form printer like an Oce VarioStream 7000. The existing prior art process is depicted clearly in FIGS. 7A, 7B, and 7C, In FIG. 7A a traditional dolly/cart is pivoted into a horizontal position on a support rack (on the far left of FIG. 7A) to accept incoming fan-folded documents. Such fan-folded documents are shown stacked on the dolly/cart (with a bottom support plate removed to accept incoming documents), extending along the delivery tract, and coming out of the printer (on the far right of FIG. 7A). As indicated, to permit the fan-folded documents to enter onto the dolly/cart from the delivery tract, the bottom support plate is temporarily removed, the fan-folded documents loaded, and the bottom support plate reinstalled when the documents are loaded. When the traditional dolly/cart is fully loaded with two-up portrait printed sheets the bottom support plate is secured back into a normal vertical load-supporting position and the entire dolly/cart pivoted on the support rack into the vertical transfer position with the wheels contacting the floor (plainly illustrated in FIG. 7B). As seen in FIG. 7C, the loaded traditional dolly/cart is then backed away from the support rack and moved to any desired location for transfer of the fan-folded documents. The entire intact (non-slitted) stream of two-up portrait printed sheets is moved as a continuous fan-folded unit.
The prior system is an easy way to process paper on a printer, folder, cart, and cutter, either a stand-alone cutter, or a cutter attached to a mail piece inserter.
The prior dolly/cart system must simply handle a stack of two-up portrait printed paper without any special handling or stack manipulation required, since the needed document orientation automatically results from the way the printed paper exits the printer. The paper is then pulled off of the prior art dolly/cart-stack in one direction into a page cutter, either first on-first off the cart, or first on-last off the cart, depending on how the cart was loaded with the paper.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,994,005 (an apparatus for slitting, merging, and cutting a continuous paper web) describes an in-line turn-bar that is positioned after slitting and prior to merging the two streams, but this invention only positionally moves one slit lane of paper to overlap with another slit lane of paper, without turning over the obverse to reverse orientation (or face to back orientation). This patent differs from the subject invention in that, since there is no need, suggestion, or teaching to so, it does not turn over the paper orientation.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,595,465 (a turn-bar assembly for redirecting a continuous paper web) describes turning a single web of paper to reorient the travel direction and, in addition, to optionally flip the paper web from obverse to reverse (face up to face down) image orientation in this reoriented travel direction. This patent differs from the subject invention in that it reorients the paper direction, which is not associated with the manner in which a turn-bar is employed in the subject invention.